Thread by @lauren_barbato

Tales of an Adjunct @rutgersptl @ruaaup: I spent 8 hours (11am-7pm) at @Rutgers_Newark Friday holding office hours for my English 101 & 102 students. This was in addition to the extra office hours I held on Thursday--which kept me on campus until after 8pm.

When did I get to Rutgers Thursday? Around 10am for my first class. Taught 2 English composition classes, held extra office hours during my usual lunch break, taught another comp class & then held 4 hours of office hours.

I have 60 students this semester @Rutgers_Newark across 3 classes. My 101 sections were capped at 18 until around the first week and then raised to 20. Our 102 sections are currently capped at 18, but I let 2 former students of mine transfer in, so I have 20 students in 102.

It's not as bad as previous semesters. Fall 2017, my supervisor raised the cap for each 102 course to 23 students--so I had 69 students across 3 classes. That same semester, I also taught writing at @FDUWhatsNew where I had 18 students per writing course.

Fall 2017: 102 students, five classes, two universities (@Rutgers_Newark & @FDUWhatsNew).

*At Rutgers, I don't receive a raise if the class-student capacity is raised from 18 to 20, 20 to 21, 20 to 22, 20 to 23 or 24. Our contract stipulates small raises after 25 students!

Here's what my Fall 2018 @RutgersU contract states for my composition courses. Raise only if enrollment exceeds 25 students per course section. That means my dept. can raise the enrollment from 20 to 24 for each of my sections--but there's NO raise for me.

I haven't had a semester yet where the English composition dept. raised the student capacity to more than 25 students per course section. However, it has been raised to 23--& since I typically teach 3 writing sections, I had 9 extra students that semester. For free. No extra $$$.

Let's talk about $$$. As an #adjunct at @RutgersU I receive $5,178 per course. This is before taxes. I'm allowed to teach 3 3-credit courses per semester at Rutgers, so that's $15,534 before taxes.

At Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. @FDUWhatsNew I was paid just $2,500 per writing course! Again: $2,500 PER ENGLISH WRITING/RESEARCH COURSE OF 18 STUDENTS. (FDU does not have a union for adjuncts, so thank you @ruaaup @rutgersptl )

At @RutgersU #adjunct professors don't receive health insurance!! Many of my #adjunct friends have been struggling finding affordable health insurance for themselves and their families. They can't afford spending $800-$1,400/month on health insurance.

Keep in mind: I teach at @Rutgers_Newark 25 minutes outside NYC. Fairleigh Dickinson is in Madison, NJ-- a suburb in wealthy N. Jersey. Cost of living in NJ is not as bad as NYC but higher than most parts of the U.S.
smartasset.com/mortgage/the-c…

I live in Newark. We are being rocked by developers building $1800 studios/$2100 one-bedroom apartments even though the median household income for the city is around $33,000 & average income is less than $20,000. I paid over $900 for my previous studio here in Newark.

If you're a PTL @RutgersU who teaches 3 courses in the fall and spring, & your contract gives you the PTL minimum of $5,178 per course, that's $31,068 for the academic year. Again: 6 COURSES, $31,068 PER ACADEMIC YEAR.

At other universities, it's much worse. If you teach 3 courses at Fairleigh Dickinson per semester, with the going rate of $2,500 per course, that's $15,000 per year. Again: 6 COURSES, $15,000 PER ACADEMIC YEAR (!!!)

I'm lucky at @RutgersU that I can teach a summer course for an extra $5,178--and to pay my bills during the summer (our last paycheck typically comes the last week of June for the spring semester). Other PTLs tutor, work retail/food hospitality, babysit etc. to make ends meet.

The reality is many, many, many #adjunct professors in the U.S. teach at multiple colleges. The most courses I taught in one semester was 5. I have colleagues that teach 6, 7, and 8 courses per semester across multiple college campuses to cobble together a living wage.

Let's go back to pay. For 3 English Composition courses at @RutgersU this semester, I'll make $15,534 before taxes. We are required to assign 8 papers per student. 8 papers, 60 students = 480 papers that I have to grade. Papers range from 3 pages to 8 pages (research papers).

I don't get a TA (I taught these courses while I was a TA, too!). I have to individually grade 480 papers this semester. I make my own syllabi, reading list, and prompts; am required to hold office hours; must attend faculty meetings; and submit progress reports.

TLDR: The 15 hours of office hours I held this week for my students was unpaid work. I could choose not to do it, but then my students will not receive the help and instruction they need to become better writers.

Instructors in The Writing Program at @Rutgers_Newark are also really important b/c my students are mostly freshmen, new to college, and need other guidance. They tend to come to me to de-stress, talk about their lives, vent, etc. Our classes are small compared to other classes..

..and they like that they get to know a professor, and the professor gets to know them. This is part of working in higher education. But the reality is that the growing number of #adjunct professors on college campuses is creating an underpaid, burnt out workforce. @rutgersptl